the disgustingly obvious reasons. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. don't forget the msnbc documentary "barack obama: making history" tonight at 10:00 eastern. good evening, americans. welcome to "the ed show" from new york. 64 days until the 2012 election and republicans are asking americans if they're better off now than they were four years ago? ooh, i like this conversation. we'll take a look back at where we were four years ago and show you why their plan might backfire. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. can you honestly say -- >> that americans are better off today. >> than they were four years ago? >> there's only one answer to that question that is provable with facts. and even the republican nominee knows it. >> well, of course it's getting

better. >> tonight, we'll end the debate with "the ed show" history lesson for republicans. >> the banks have restricted lending. credit markets have frozen and families and business have found it harder to borrow money. we're in the midsh of a serious financial crisis. >> righty talkers continue their assault on sandra fluke. >> i'm wondering when sandra fluke speaks next week at the democratic convention, what they're going to drop from the ceiling. >> tonight, sandra fluke on the ongoing war on women and a preview of her speech. plus, montana governor brian schweitzer tells us what democrats need to accomplish in charlotte. and paul ryan's marathon of lying. now includes lying about america. >> what's your person m best? >> under three, i think, two hours and 50 something. >> we'll show you how the vice presidential candidate is running a losing race against the truth. good to have you with us tonight, folks.

thanks for watching. republicans and loud and clear about the question they want to ask as voters make their decision in november. >> i think when you make that decision, it might be well if you would ask yourself, are you better off than you were four years ago? >> that's their strategy now? the leader of the gop are highlighting this question as we head into the democratic national convention. >> the fundamental question is back on the table for americans, which is are you better off today than you were three or four years ago? >> we're not going to hear evidence and facts about how people are better off. you see, the president cannot run on this record. >> this president cannot tell us that you're betting er off today than when he took office. >> do you really want to have this conversation? in order to say whether the country is better off today than it was four years ago, it helps to look at, all right, what was going on just four years ago this month. >> this is an extraordinary period for america's economy.

over the past few weeks, many americans have felt anxiety about their finances and their future. i understand their worry and their frustration. we have seen triple digit swings in the stock market, major financial institutions have teetered on the edge of collapse. and some have failed. as uncertainty has grown, many banks have restricted lending. credit markets have frozen, and families and businesses have found it harder to borrow money. we're in the midst of a serious financial crisis. >> and for months on end, president obama's never had to say anything like that. do you notice the date there, september 24th, 2008? president bush had less than two months in office remaining. to the election, and then of course the lame duck, but the fact is this. president obama's never had those conditions since he's been president. it's been all upstart. republicans aren't focusing on the reality of four years ago. instead, they're blaming all the economic problems on president

obama. it's just an easy call. some americans might believe it. mitt romney told voters how bad they have it thanks to the president. >> driving home late from that second job or standing there watching the gas pump hit $50 and still going when the realtor told you that to sell your house, you would have to take a big loss. in those moments, you knew that this just wasn't right. >> all of these things are president obama's fault? question mark? well, according to mitt romney, they are. high gas prices, difficulty with mortgage payments, jobs insecurity. you know, i guess all of these things were fine before president obama took office. >> families are squeezed by the high price of gasoline. and feeling the pinch of food prices. and monthly mortgage payments. workers are anxious about whether their paychecks will stretch. some are anxious about whether or not they'll keep their jobs. >> the date on that was october 7th, 2008. not long after the first tape we

just played from september 24th. this really is an admission of failure by the president himself. republicans are trying to sell a bill of goods and the american people, i don't know how any of us could buy this. the most recent polling on the economy shows 54% of the country still blames president bush for the economic conditions we're experiencing now. only 32% blame president obama. and here is why. we were losing more than 700,000 jobs a month when president obama took office. the trend was reversed and we had 29 months of private sector job growth. hold it right there. do you think if the republicans had 29 months of private sector job growth, we would see maybe a banner at the rnc convention? gdp growth has followed a very similar trend. this is the most trusted measurement of economic improvement.

the stock market bottomed out in march of 2009. remember those days? it has come back by more than 6,000 points. now, this is just not growth for wall streeters. this is stuff like your education accounts, your health care savings account, your 401(k), basic stuff that people really like to depend on. today, president obama was in ohio where one in eight jobs are connected to the automobile industry. the auto loan, remember that? this prevented millions of people from being worse off. >> more than 1 million americans across the country would have lost their jobs in the middle of the worst economic crisis since the great depression. in communities across the midwest, it would have been another great depression. >> in the past four years, we have ended a war that cost thousands of lives and trillions of dollars. and as joe biden pointed out today on the campaign trail, we removed one of the greatest threats to our national security.

>> you want to know whether we're better off? i got a little bumper sticker for you. osama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive. >> four years ago, the economy was in a freefall. it has turned around. even mitt romney, listen to this, even mitt romney admitted this in a radio interview back in january of this year. >> you've also noted that there are signs of improvement on the horizon in the economy. how do you answer the president's argument that the economy is getting better in a general election campaign if you yourself are saying it's getting better? >> well, of course it's getting better. the economy always gets better after a recession. there's always a recovery. >> isn't it a hard argument to make if you're saying, like, okay, he inherited this recession and took a bunch of steps to try to turn the economy around and now we're seeing more jobs, but vote against him anyway? isn't that a hard argument to make, is that a stark enough contrast? >> dueio have a better one, laura? it happens to be the truth. >> no one is saying the economy is perfect.

there are a lot of people out of work. there are still millions of people struggling in these conditions, but republicans are presented a stark choice by raising the four years question. do you want to continue with policies that created a clear trend in the correct direction, or do you want to head back to what really brought us to where we are, which all started four years ago? last week, republicans did everything they could to avoid talking about this man, george w. bush. but today, the focus is on going back to the economic turmoil of the past, turmoil president bush never saw coming. >> mr. president, economists say the nation is at increasing risk of recession. what do you say? >> i say that the fundamentals of our nation's economy are strong. >> do you think there's a risk of a recession? how do you rate that? >> you know, you need to talk to economists.

i think i got a b in econ 101. let's make a joke out of it, you know? mitt romney runs around the country saying barack obama doesn't understand the economy. that videotape was in 2007. did it sound like president bush had a grip of the economy? it only got worse from there. do you really want to go back to those days? the fundamental question americans are going to be asking themselves on november 6th, do you really want to make a change? do you want to gamble the economy to a man who doesn't connect with the american people. turn it over to a man who has a history of outsourcing and he doesn't do anything for labor. are you ready to trust mitt romney with the finances of this country? get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question, will you be better off four years from now under mitt romney? text a for yes, text b for no. to 622639. you can always leave a comabout

at our blog at ed.msnbc.com. joining me tonight is congressman chris van hollen of maryland. also the chairman of the dccc. great to have you with us. this is an argument i think the democrats and a conversation the democrats should be inviting at this point. does this really show that the republicans are -- they're winging it at this point. what do you think? >> they're winging it and counting on the american people having a collective case of amnesia. and the american people are a lot smarter than that. you cited the statistics. the other question to ask is, what was mitt romney proposing because when the economy was in freefall, the president acted decisively, passed the recovery bill and rescued the auto industry. what was mitt romney saying we should do? let detroit go bankrupt. what did mitt romney and paul ryan propose with respect to social security a number of years ago? let's privatize it. well, you just cited the statistics about the collapse in the retirement system. the american people lost about a

third of their savings. if we listened to mitt romney and paul ryan on social security, people would have had nothing. so it's not only that the president had an economy in freefall, stopped it and turned the corner. it's that if we listened to the other guys, we would be in a world of hurt. >> what diz the congressman say to people who may not be better off today? the numbers are 23 million americans out of work. it has been high unemployment, although it has come down since president obama has taken office. we're headed in the right direction, but what do you communicate to people who may not be better off today? >> the president has made clear, even though we made progress from where we were, we still have a long way to go. and the president proposed another round of a jobs bill. he submitted that to congress about one years ago this month, in fact, and it called for a major new investment in our infrastructure, our roads and bridges and our electric grids. schools, that would have put a lot of people to work.

especially when you've got 14% unemployment in the construction industry. you have a component for small business investment. the republicans have never even scheduled a vote on that, ed. so look, the president got us out of the ditch, and we were climbing. he had another proposal to keep us climbing, and they said, whoa, one year ago, they refused to vote on it. we have now voted over 30 times to repeal obama care, not once on the president's jobs initiative. >> about the convngz, is there such a thing as bush burnout? there might be a lot of ow americans who don't want to hear about bush anymore. it's moving forward and that's pretty much the campaign that the obama people are pushing right now. is bush going to be a key part of the democratic national convention conversation? >> no, he's not because let me make this -- i think this is an important point. yes, we inherited a mess from george bush, but the issue now is where do we go in the future? the point we're making is if you

listen to what romney and ryan are doing, they're proposing the same economic strategy that got us into this mess. so we're saying, let's look at the future. you have a choice. you continue to invest in america from the middle class out. or do you go back to this trickle down theory? so those are the choices. it's not that we're talking about the past. it's what is your prescription going forward? it just happens to be that romney and ryan are just going back to their old playbook for the future and we know what happens. >> congressman chris van hollen great to have you with us. we'll visit again. remember to answer tonight's question there at the bottom of the screen. share you thoughts on twitter at ed show and on facebook. >> coming up, republicans tried to make their case to women voters. did they succeed? sandra fluke will weigh in on that. so much more. stay with us. we're recognize back.

week, but kept silent on the party's policies. sandra fluke joins me with

reaction. >> mitt romney's rnc speech did little to shift the polls in his favor. what's the next best play for the gop? and the president and vice president made their case today to the middle class and wage earners in the middle of the country. can they keep the momentum through november? governor brian schweitzer will tell you how to balance a budget with middle class workers. share your thoughts with us on facebook and twitter using the hash tag ed show. we're coming right back. we know a place where tossing and turning have given way to sleeping. where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. and lunesta can help you get there, like it has for so many people before. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion.

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show." republicans were determined to close the gender gap last week and show the country their party is not waging a war against women. >> we're the mothers. we're the wives. we're the grandmothers, we're the big sisters, we're the little sisters and we are the daughters. >> as a strong woman of faith, as a mother, as a wife -- >> she hopes to break down the barriers for other young women. >> no more barriers. >> as governor of massachusetts, i chose a woman lieutenant governor, a woman chief of staff. half of my cabinet and senior officials were women. >> i love you women! >> okay. very nice. but the substance, was it there? there was no mention of equal pay for equal work. nowhere in the convention. i guess they don't believe in it. no talk of health care or reproductive rights. and they sure as heck didn't mention the guy's name down from missouri named todd akin. he may have made just a little too much news. instead of the gop convention week outreached to women

including a special pavilion in tampa offering a hair salon in hot pink decor along with themed cocktails like the lady lemon and the lemontini. as for the newly minted republican nominee, his speech didn't move the needle either. his remarks received positive remarks from just 38% of respondents, both women and men. that is the lowest rating since gallup began measuring in 1996. tomorrow, it will be the democrats' turn to make their case. and conservative bill kristol thinks the party will pull away from social issues. >> the polling shows, no one really believed the republicans are waging war on women. the republicans half believe it was a threat. they rolled out -- the theme of the convention was, we love women. we're not engaged in a war on women. >> joining me tonight, sandra fluke, attorney and women's rights activist.

great to have you with us tonight. she will be speaking add the democratic national convention this week in charlotte. i would like you to respond to bill kristol's comments right there that you just heard. >> yeah, i mean, i thought what you were saying initially was so telling, that the idea of how to appeal to women is to serve them cocktails and just put women at the podium. it takes more than that. women want to hear what a presidential candidate is concerned about in terms of women's lives. so women's access to health care and to equal pay for equal work. and you know, violence against women, and that kind of substance is what women are worthy of, and that's what we want to hear about. >> you did not hear that with the republicans at all last week? how would you grade their presentation to women voters in america? >> well, overall, i think we saw an entire convention that was a light on substance for everyone,

and when there was substance, there were a lot of factual misrepresentations. so it's not a good grade. >> what are you going to tell the country? >> what i'm going to try to make clear is the difference between the candidates that we have to choosz choose from this november. looking at their records, we have president obama who has stood for women's health care and our access to kaunlt ruception. has defended planned parenthood and has promoted our right to equal pay for equal work. then we have mr. romney, who, you know, vetoed a bill that would have guaranteed survivors of sexual assault accesscontraception in an er, and his running mate, mr. ryan, who cosponsored the bill to make distinctions on which rape survivors deserve care to health care. the choice becomes very clear. >> did the republicans make it an easy case to present? >> they certainly did, yes. >> you have become a focal point in this election. here's what fox news had to say about you on the air the other

day. i want you to see this. here it is. >> there is nothing in america like a balloon drop at a political convention. it is every bit as american as fourth of july fireworks. >> i'm wondering with sandra fluke speaks next week at the democratic convention, what they're going to drop from the ceiling. >> goodness. >> what would you do, though? >> there goes that suggestive o'reilly again. >> i'm just pointing out, there's only one reason this woman is speaking, one and one only. >> one and one only. one reason why you're speaking. how insulted a you by that, or are you not insulted by it? >> well, i think it's clearly offensive to see a bunch of guys laughing around laughing about dropping condoms on a woman. obviously, that's offensive, but i try to not pay attention to it, look past it, and focus on the policies i care about, unduing undue i'm doing what i can for the president, and frankly, i think it's clear there's more than one reason i'm speaking at the convention. i hope my contribution and all of women's contributions would

be more respected than that. >> sandra fluke, great to have you with us. all the best to you. we'll look forward to your speech here. thank you. up next, the republican national convention falls flat. find out why the businessman failed to close the deal on one of the biggest nights in his life. later, president obama rallied the troops. today, he has a good record with labor. james hoffa and larry cohen will tell us what the president needs to do for labor and what labor needs to do for the president. to get over the finish line.

look around you. these aren't strangers. these are our brothers and sisters. our fellow americans. my promise is to help you and your family. >> thanks for watching "the ed show" tonight. obviously, mitt romney giving what was supposed to be the ultimate sales pitch but the newest polls show he couldn't close the deal and he falls flat. in the history of convention polling, republicans usually get about a five-point bounce. the highly produced conventions usually succeed at winning over hundreds of thousands of voters. it's that time of the year in the election cycle that people start paying taeng. to be fair, tv viewership was down 23% during romney's speech this year. how could clint eastwood do that

to him? but websites and social media drew record audiences. so here's the bad news for the romney campaign. one poll gives romney a three-point bounce. that's within the margin of error. the gallup poll shows no bounce at all. almost a week of wall to wall coverage and no gains? this was supposed to be romney's big moment. it was his first chance to deliver a live speech to a national audience, but it looks like romney's speech simply failed to convince voters. according to gallup, his speech was average at best. if you count just excellent and good reviews, voters put romney in fifth place among every republican nominee in recent history. romney didn't do as well as george w. bush in 2004. in fact, romney's speech got the lowest poll rating since 1996. bob dole got better reviews than romney did. but there's a poll number that really matters to a lot more americans. and this is it. gallup shows democrats are less

enthusiastic about voting this november. here comes the red flag. republicans are gaining. 51% are focused on getting barack obama out of the white house. republicans might be feeling a little romney malaise. they might not even like this guy, but, here's the bottom line. the romney campaign could win this election without having to win over voters. let's turn to karen finney tonight. msnbc political analyst and former communications director for the dnc. good to have you with us tonight. 23% down in the audience, what do you make of that? is the country just politically exhausted and tired of the guy who shipped a bunch of guy jobs overseas? >> the snake oil he's selling, they're not interested. their strategy has been fake it until you make it. we saw going into the convention, the support for romney even within the conservatives in the party, not that excited about governor romney, and certainly, democrats

weren't going to tune into that because they have heard that rhetoric. it's bad for the republicans. i don't want democrats to take anything for granted, but it does show that governor romney just does not have what it takes to inspire people. to get people excited. >> the best thing romney and the republicans have going for them right now is that people on their side just don't like president obama. that might be the motivating factor. should the democrats be worried tonight? >> absolutely. i have come from the school of politics where you never take anything for granted. and i have to tell you what concerns me is the combination of the voter suppression efforts we're seeing. they're very robust, and the dog whistle politics. we don't know yet what kind of impacts it's going to have on people's ability to get out and vote and have that vote counted. in addition to that, we can't take anything for granted because you never know what's going to happen. look what happened in 2000. >> the national journal saying

the democrats are confident. david axelrod said we could win, we could louvre se. i think we're going to win. what's your reaction? >> we saw this a lot during the republican prime ary primary. people watched the republican primary debates. you rerm them well, and thought, come on. barack obama can beat whoever emerges from that crowd. and again, i think we need to, as democrats, we need to continue to convein the message that we have a lot of hard work to do between now and november and we can't take anything for granted. at the same time, i don't buy into the idea there's not enthusiasm. there's a lot of enthusiasm here in north carolina. i think democrats will turn out. i also think one of the things we haven't focused on yet, ed, is voter regivation. that means we're expanding the electorate in a lot of key places.

>> do you think the democrats are going to get a post-convention bounce? the republicans were so lacking in definition and substance, especially on the women's issues. this really kind of tees it up for president obama, doesn't it? >> absolutely. i think what people are going to see over the next several nights is more of a visual ion, more specifics, more detail. >> will they get a bounce? >> i think we'll get a bounce because people will say, okay, that i understand, that i can vote for, that i support. it firths underscored for people how light on the details things were last week with the romney speech. i will say, it will be a modest bounce because i think it's really going to be mid-september when we see where the race really stands. >> romney not campaigning this week. good strategy? >> i was a little surprised by that. he's got paul ryan out there actually doing his dirty work, but that being said, we've heard he's doing debate prep. look, you know the president is an excellent debater, and governor romney better come prepared and he's going to have to come prepared with facts, not just platitudes. >> karen finney, great to have you with us. thanks so much. lots more coming up in the

next half hour of "the ed show." stay with us. >> unions like yours that help to forge the basic bargain in this country. the bargain that built the greatest middle class and the most prosperous country and the the most prosperous economy the world has ever known. >> labor spent last week getting demonized. this week, american workers are rising up to back the president. up next, james hoffa of the teamsters and larry cohen of the cwa, on what they expect in charlotte. and democrats are fighting the republican onslaught to end medicare as we know it. >> we're for medicare, they're for voucher care. >> tonight, montana governor brian schweitzer on what democrats need to accomplish this week.

weekends, paid leave, pensions, the minimum wage, health care,

social security, medicare. those things happened. because working people organized and mobilized. >> on this labor day, let's talk labor. obviously, president obama at a labor day rally in toledo, ohio today. president obama needs to make a real connection with labor this week if he wants to secure a second term in the white house. labor plays a vital role in getting out the ground troops and social networking, and in really getting out the numbers in a close election. if it's about enthusiasm, labor is going to be there, but will they be there in full force? here's more from the president today. >> it is unions like yours that help to forge the basic bargain of this country. the bargain that built the greatest middle class and the most prosperous country and the most prosperous economy that the world has ever known.

it's a bargain that says if you work hard, if you're responsible, then your work should be rewarded. >> so who is for the wage earner? this might be the perfect time to bring out our income disparity chart. this is where america has been over the last 30 years. president obama stands with the blue line, the middle class, the average agers trying to get ahead. mitt romney stands with the top 1% who have done pretty well over the last 30 years. it's not even a close call, and he wants those folks on the red line to have more. governor romney is clearly anti-labor. he has no history of dealing with labor and has been a financial dictator in the financial sector for years. the last thing he thinks about is the wage earner. he thinks about profit for his company. that's his record. the gop platform salutes republican governors and state lawmakers who have saved their states from financial disaster by reforming laws governing

public employee unions. that's just the first chip at what they really want to do in this attack on labor. mitt romney would love to go national with an attack on public employee unions, even on labor day. republicans, what do they do? they celebrate management. house majority leader eric cantor tweeted today, today, we celebrate those who have taken a risk, worked hard, built a business, and earned their own success. let's bring in james hoffa, president of international brotherhood of the teamsters. also with us tonight, larry cohen, president of the communication workers of america. great to have you here tonight. mr. hoffa, you first, what does president obama need to do to energize the ranks of labor and how important it is for labor to get behind this president, given the record of mitt romney? >> well, i think he's got to keep doing what he did today in toledo, what joe biden did today in detroit. we've got to start talking about

the accomplishments of labor, what they have done. that basically energized our people to realize they appreciate what we have done and to basically build the middle class. and we need more of that. i hope here at this convention, in the next three days, you're going to see more of that. we're going to have bill clinton, you're going to have michelle obama, and you're going to have the president talking about these issues. i think they can energize people and get a big bounce out of this convention that basically the republicans didn't get because they had basically a completely dishonest convention. they didn't talk about facts. they had nothing but platitudes. they talked about the forefathers, their aunts, their uncles, their moms, their dads, but they didn't talk about tash cut for the rich. they didn't talk about eliminating capital gains. they didn't talk about sending vouchers out instead of medicare. they didn't talk about what they stand for. and the good thing about president obama, he's not afraid to say what he believes in. when he goes on the trail, he says we're going to increase

taxes on the very rich. and you know what? that's what it's all about. >> mr. cohen, can this country trust mitt romney. can wage earners trust mitt romney from what you heard last week? >> not at all. mitt romney brought us a new verb in the english language. bained. workers know they're bained when their jobs are sent out of the country. they're bained when their pay is cut, when they lose their pensions and health care. that's what mitt romney is about. by contrast, the president in his labor day procclamation talked about preserving collective bargaining rights. what workers want to hear is he's ready to help expand collective bargaining rights. and it's bargaining roilths ights that raise pay, that allow workers to have a voice in this economy. it's bargaining rights that can help bring the economy back as people lift themselves up. >> gentlemen, we know that there are union members in this country who vote republican. mr. hoffa, what do you say to those folks?

>> i say vote your pocketbook. we go out and basically talk to thousands of people. i don't do it, i know larry doesn't, and yes there are people in there, either because of, you know, some issue of guns or abortion or something, that are off on a different track. we have to make them come back home and say, hey, the issues are, they're trying to destroy what you are enjoying now. your union, the good pay you have, your health care, your pensions. they're against that. that's the mesening we ng sage ave to deliver. wake up. >> you agree with that? >> absolutely. jim nailed it. politics should be about paublic policy issues. about our health care, about our jobser about our trade policy. politics is not about personal issues. republicans try to flip it to create a wedge among working families. we need to flip it back, make sure our members and more importantly american worker union or not understand that this election is about choices. choice is clear for american workers. >> you know, labor day is supposed to celebrate labor in this country.

i think labor day today in 2012 is a heck of a lot different than it was 50 years ago or 100 years ago. what do young people need to know, mr. hoffa, about what labor does for this country? >> it's an educational thing. we try to make sure our members understand what the union means and what their children understand or the people who go to work, the young people who come to work as teamsters or in the communications workers. they're going to have to understand how to get to the level they have, the good wages, the health care, the pension. a lot of hard work went into getting them where they're at. they have to buy into the idea that we have to keep them going. we're losing the battle right now. we have to get involved and educate our people. i think that's the key. >> mr. cohen, what does president obama have to do? does he have to unequivocally make a commitment to labor? i think, look, president obama can't win a second term if he doesn't have labor with him.

i mean really with him. it's going to be that close. so what are your expectations of the president? >> i think he has to continue to do what we just heard today. he's got to speak to american workers, both union and not. and say that i stand with you. i stand against the offshoring of jobs. i stand against the pay cuts. against the health care cuts. against the elimination of retirement security. whether it's social security or pensions on the jobs. i stand with you. young and old, american working women and men, whether you have a union or not, i'm here for you. >> james hoffa, larry cohen, great to have you gentlemen with us tonight on "the ed show." thanks so much. coming up, paul ryan can't seem to tell the truth, and you won't believe what he's lying about this time. this is a dandy. stay with us. idide?

you're not my dad ahh!! hey honey, back feels better, little dancing tonight, you and me? dr. scholl's pro inserts relieve different types of lower body pain by treating at the source so you're a whole new you. go pro with dr. scholl's. up next, paul ryan's lie about his marathon time is just the latest in his marathon of lies. and to the big finish tonight.

what do democrats need to do to get voters to stick with them for another term? montana governor brian schweitzer joins us from charlotte to tell it like it is again. don't forget, you can listen to me on radio monday through friday, on tomorrow from noon to 3:00 p.m. eastern time. you can follow me on twitter at ed show and like the ed show on facebook. we're coming right back.

welcome back to "the ed show." believe it or not, paul ryan has been caught in yet another lie. last week, ryan called in to visit with conservative radio talk show host hugh hewitt, and the conversation turned to ryan's workouts. >> are you still running? >> yeah, i hurt a disc in my back, so i don't run marathons anymore. i just run ten miles or less. >> you did run marathons at some point? >> yeah, but i can't do it anymore. >> what's your personal best? >> under three, high twos.

two hours and 50 something. >> holy smokes. >> holy smokes. what an appropriate response. for a time like that, ryan would have to average under seven minutes a mile for the entire 26-mile race. so the folks at runners world, they did a little checking, and found out that well, he did run in a marathon back in the day in duluth, minnesota, when he was a college student. his actual finish time, over four hours. so the congressman issues a statement trying to laugh it off as just a mistake. every marathon runner knows their personal best, no question about it, i mean down to the second. i remember my 40 time. i could never do 4.8, i could do 4.9. i couldn't get 280. i could do 275, but i couldn't do 280. everybody knows when you're a competitor and you're in it and performing performing, marathon runner, i don't know, a couple

hours. but wait a minute, this is a pattern, my friends. >> you had asked for stimulus money for your district. is that accurate? >> i don't recall asking for stimulus. i haven't seen the report so i can't comment on it. >> candidate obama said i believe if our government is here to support you, this plant will be here for another 100 years. that plant didn't last another year. it's locked up and empty to this day. the recovery that was promised is nowhere in sight. >> issues big and small, no matter how long the trail is for the marathon, it always comes down to a lie, doesn't it? guy can't seem to tell the truth. tonight in the verva, i asked you, will you be better off four years from now under mitt romney. 5% of you say yes, 95% of you say no. coming up, the democrats' big week and a chance to convince the american public to stay the course. it's not an easy sell in a tough economy, but it's got to be done.

governor brian schweitzer of montana has the answers. stay with us. those surprising little things she does still make you take notice. there are a million reasons why. but your erectile dysfunction that could be a question of blood flow. cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications,

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last week, the other party gave their sales pitch at their convention down in florida. don't boo. vote. >> and to the big finish tonight, tomorrow evening, democrats get their shot at convincing the american people to stick with president obama. here's my advice.

they simply just need to be good democrats and be fair about it. the values of the democratic party are more in line with the american public today than they ever have been before. the democratic party is the party of the middle class. it's the party of equal pay for equal work. it's the party of inclusion and fairness. the country needs these values more than ever in face of a republican congress and a bunch of dangerous republican governors who will do everything in their power to diminish the middle class as they know it. they attack wage earners. here is president obama in toledo, ohio, today. >> despite all of the challenges we face in this new century, we saw three straight days of an agenda out of the last century. it was a rerun. you might as well have watched it on black and white tv. with some rabbit ears on there. >> today, the obama campaign released a new ad explaining how romney would hit the middle

class harder than ever. in detroit, vice president joe biden laid out the choice for medicare. >> ladies and gentlemen, we're talking about making sure we protect medicare. they're talking about creating an entire new system, voucher care. voucher care. that's what they're doing. it's simple, folks. we're for medicare, they're for voucher care. if they win, people are in trouble. >> joining me now is governor brian schweitzer of montana. good to see you again. good to have you on "the ed show." let's talk health care first. in rural red states in america, where there are aging populations, how can folks turn against the democrats when very clearly, they have strength in medicare, and they have also made it so the program will last even longer and benefits haven't been cut? where is the disconnect here? >> well, the disconnect is pretty simple. the republican message is one of fairy tales.

we heard it for three solid days down there in tampa. and frankly, we would expect that they start telling the truth. the way they tell the stories, i could make those stories up, too. let's see, i graduated from m.i.t. with a ph.d. in astrophysics and won the pole vault gold medal in the summer olymp olympics olympics. they take it down as fact. if they say somehow we're taking $700 billion out of medicare when in fact we're enforcing and strengthening medicare, we're taking care of the middle class and the republicans have never supported the middle class and they're not going to this time. >> how do democrats convince the american people to stay the course, convince voters to stay the course, which brings us to are you better off today than you were four years ago? you are better off today than four years ago. did you forget that it was september 15th that the lee hman brothers declared bankruptcy. by october of 2008, we didn't

know if we were back in 1929 or maybe something worse. we lost 700, 800,000 jobs every month. and now for 29 consecutive months, 4.5 million new jobs. and ed, something that theroom republicans don't tell you is we have been increasing the private sector job, all the while decreasing government jobs. in montana, we're down 4.2% in government jobs but we're increasing the private jobs. we're producing more energy in this country, using less energy, and for the first time in a generation, manufacturing jobs are coming back to america. and by the way, happy labor day to all the people who moved the freight, take care of our children, and take care of the elderly. >> we have seen two philosophies. republican governors attacking labor. you haven't done it. you are running a surplus, are you not, in montana? >> we have cut more taxes for middle class families and run the seven largest budget surpluses in the history of mont montana right through the great recession, and when the

republicans refuse to give a raise to our state employees, they refuse to honor the deal we negotiated, i turned to our state employees and said, i tell you what, we're going to give you better benefits because we're going to decrease your co pay for health insurance and give you broadband increases within the law because the republican legislature wouldn't do the right thing when we're sitting on this large budget surplus. >> well, as a guy who loves the outdoors, i'll say you can't fish all the time. where are you going to be in 2016? >> well, i'll just fish in the morning and drink whiskey in the afternoon. >> what kind of whiskey? we're vetting here. >> old whiskey, ed. old whiskey and big fish. >> governor, when do you speak? >> that's kind of a secret, but they're talking about speaking late, not early. >> well, don't tighten that tie anymore. you let them have it again like you did back in 2008. >> well,